Stunned myocardium

In cardiology stunned myocardium is a state when some section of the myocardium (corresponding to area of a major coronary occlusion) shows a form of contractile abnormality. This is a segmental dysfunction which persists for a variable period of time, about two weeks, even after ischemia has been relieved (by for instance angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery).

In this situation, while myocardial blood flow (MBF) returns to normal, function is still depressed for a variable period of time.

Clinical situations of stunned myocardium are:

• acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
• after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA)
• after cardiac surgery

Related topics

• Hibernating myocardium
• Myocardial scarring
• Myocardial infarction